Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (also known as Affies), is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

Afrikaans medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Elandspoort in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

in the

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

province of South Africa. The school was founded in 1920 by Jan Joubert and reverend Chris Neethling.

History

Early years (1920–1928)

The school's founding on 28 January 1920 marked the establishment of the first purely

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

-medium high school in South Africa. The event predated the official recognition of the Afrikaans language by five years. With English as well as

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

established as the official languages in South Africa, many of the Afrikaans-speaking population believed Afrikaans should also enjoy recognition. Afrikaans as language grew so fast that CJ Langenhoven tabled a motion in the

Cape Provincial Council The Cape Provincial Council was the provincial council (South Africa), provincial council of the Cape Province of South Africa. It was created by the South Africa Act 1909, with effect from the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910 ...

to slowly replace Dutch with Afrikaans. This thought was strongly supported by MP Jan Joubert and Chris Neethling. As leaders in the community they quickly organized a group to establish a purely Afrikaans school in Pretoria. On 27 January 1920, the first acting head, Johannes Arnoldus Kruger de Lange received the new pupils. The first enrollment was a boy named Frederik Botha. There were 35 pupils in form II (grade 9) and 10 in form III (grade 10); 45 in total. De Lange was supported by DJ (Dawie) Malan and MM de Vos who were joined on 11 February by HCP Sack. De Lange later became head at the Commercial Branch at the Pretoria Technical College. The school with 45 children and 3 teachers was housed in the home of General

Piet Joubert Petrus Jacobus Joubert (20 January 1831 – 28 March 1900), better known as Piet Joubert (''Slim Piet'', Smart Pete), was a South African politician who served as the commandant–general of the South African Republic from 1880 to 1900. He als ...

at 218 Visagie Street, Central Pretoria.

Current building (1927)

By 1927, the school had grown and new premises were required. The school was therefore moved eastward to the current premises of the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Affies sister-school. At the end of 1927, the school took over the Hogere Oosteindschool, a

-medium instruction school, suggestive of the demise of Dutch as a language in South Africa and the assumption of Afrikaans as the primary instruction medium.

Present (1928–)

By 1929 this building had also run out of space and the decision was made to split the boys and girls into separate schools, thus creating the first separate

boys' and girls' schools in South Africa. These two schools are now situated opposite each other in Lynnwood Road.

Headmasters

List of the headmasters of Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool.

Notable alumni

Rugby

* Louis Schmidt (1954):

Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

player 1958 to 1962, and the original Blue Bull; * Tonie Roux (1964): Springbok rugby player 1969 to 1974; * Grant Esterhuizen (1994): Springbok rugby player 2000 * Skipper Badenhorst (1996): Natal Sharks / SA Under 21 / Cheetahs Super 14 rugby player *Nicolaas Alberts (1996): Springbok Sevens Rugby Player and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Triple

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

(Rugby, Cricket and Athletics) * Johann van Graan (1998): Former Springbok forwards coach and

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

head coach; current

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

head coach * Fourie du Preez (2000): Springbok rugby player 2004-2015 and Springbok Captain *

Wynand Olivier Wynand Olivier (born 11 June 1983) is a former South African professional rugby union player.His usual position was at centre. Career Olivier made his provincial rugby debut for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup in a match against Boland in 200 ...

(2001): Springbok rugby player 2006–2013 * Pierre Spies (2003): Springbok rugby player 2006–2013 * Dean Greyling (2004): Springbok rugby player 2011–2012 * Gerhard van den Heever (2007): Japanese

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player * Quinn Roux (2008): Ireland International Rugby 2016-; *

Andries Ferreira Andries Stephanus Ferreira (born 29 March 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays for the US Carcassonne in the Pro D2 with his regular playing position as a lock. Career Youth and Varsity Cup rugby Ferreira went to Despatch Hig ...

(2008): South African professional rugby player * Willie du Plessis (2008): Dutch international rugby player * Nico Janse van Rensburg (2012): Springbok rugby player 2021- *

Pierre Schoeman Pierre Schoeman (born 7 May 1994) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club Edinburgh. Born in South Africa, he represents Scotland at international level after qualifying on residency grounds. ...

(2012): Scottish rugby player 2021- *

Ivan van Zyl Ivan van Zyl (born 30 June 1995) is a South African rugby union player for Saracens. His regular position is scrum-half. Career Youth Van Zyl represented the Blue Bulls as early as primary school level, appearing at the Under-13 Craven Week co ...

(2013): Springbok rugby player 2018- * RG Snyman (2013): Springbok rugby player * Ruben van Heerden (2015): South African rugby player * Schalk Erasmus (2016): Springbok

player * Reinhardt Ludwig (2020): u21 Springbok rugby player 2022- * Quewin Nortje (2021): u21 Springbok rugby Player; Springbok Sevens; Olympic bronze medalist

Cricket

Kruger Van Wyk Cornelius Francoius Kruger van Wyk (born 7 February 1980) is a former New Zealand cricketer who plays for the Central Districts Stags. He is a wicket-keeper-batsman. He has played professionally in South Africa and New Zealand, and at club leve ...

(1998): Titans, South Africa A and New Zealand Black Caps cricket player *

Jacques Rudolph Jacobus Andries "Jacques" Rudolph (born 4 May 1981) is a former South African cricketer who played for Yorkshire, Glamorgan and in South Africa with Titans. He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, a popular and renowned public school located in ...

(1999): South African international cricket player 2003 to 2011 *

AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African former international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest batters of his generation. de Villiers was named as the ODI Player of the Year three times during h ...

(2002):

South African national cricket team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

player * Francois du Plessis (2002): South African national cricket team player *

Heino Kuhn Heino Gunther Kuhn (born 1 April 1984) is a South African cricketer who has played for the national team. He has played for Titans and Northerns in South African domestic cricket and in March 2018 signed a Kolpak contract with Kent County Cric ...

(2002): Titans and South Africa cricket player *

Neil Wagner Neil Wagner (born 13 March 1986) is a New Zealand former Test cricketer who played for New Zealand and Northern Districts cricket teams. He played for Northerns until 2007/08 and Otago between 2008 and 2018. Wagner was a member of the New Zea ...

(2004): New Zealand Black Caps cricket player * Sybrand Engelbrecht (2006): Netherlands cricket player * Ruben Trumpelmann (2016): Namibia cricket player * Ruan De Swardt (2016): South African national cricket player * Dewald Brevis (2021): South African national cricket player

Golf

George Coetzee George William Coetzee (born 18 July 1986) is a South African professional golfer. He has won five tournaments on the European Tour and 14 on the Sunshine Tour, where he has also topped the Order of Merit on two occasions. Early life Coetzee wa ...

(2004): South African professional golfer

Tennis

* Rayno Seegers (1970): South African tennis player, mixed doubles Wimbledon quarter-finalist *

Johan Kriek Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African–American former professional tennis player. As a tennis player, he won two Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at the French Open and US Open, as well as the quarte ...

(1976): South African tennis player, twice winner of Australian Open singles title *

Danie Visser Danie Visser (born 26 July 1961) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. A doubles specialist, he won three Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Australian Open and one US Open). Visser reached the world No. 1 doubles rankin ...

(1979): South African tennis player, three times Grand Slam doubles winner

Other sports

*Sebastiaan Rothmann (1993): IBO and WBO cruiser weight boxing champion *

Jacques Freitag Jacques Freitag (11 June 1982 – ) was a South African high jumper. Freitag is one of only eleven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Armand Duplantis, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kirani James, Faith Kipyegon, Jan ...

(2000): South African Olympic high jumper *

Lehann Fourie Lehann Fourie (born 16 February 1987 in Heidelberg, Gauteng) is a South African hurdler. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, UK. He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies) ...

(2005): South African hurdler. * Gerhard de Beer (c. 2015): South African American football player *

Ntando Mahlangu Ntando Mahlangu (born 26 January 2002) is a South African Paralympic athlete. He won the gold medal in both the men's long jump T63 and men's 200 metres T61 events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. He won the silver medal in the ...

(2021): South African Paralympic athlete, two time Paralympic gold medalist

Academics

* D. C. S. Oosthuizen: philosopher, critic of Apartheid * Hans du Plessis (1962): Afrikaans writer and poet, Emeritus Professor at Northwest University, Potchefstroom; * Fransjohan Pretorius (1966): South African historian and professor emeritus of History at the University of Pretoria; *

Pierre Edwards Pierre Edwards known as Pierre, is an American actor, director, writer, and stand-up comedian. Pierre is best known for producing, writing, directing, and starring as Dre Mitchell in ''For Da Love of Money'' (2002), and starring in such films a ...

(1970) : Springbok rugby player 1980, the former headmaster * Abraham J. Malherbe Theologian, Professor at Yale

Politics

Magnus Malan General Magnus André de Merindol Malan (30 January 1930 – 18 July 2011) was a South African military figure and politician during the last years of apartheid in South Africa. He served respectively as Minister of Defence in the cabinet of ...

: Minister of Defence (1980–1991); *

Gerrit Viljoen Gerrit Van Niekerk Viljoen (11 September 1926 – 29 March 2009) was a South African government minister and member of the National Party. He was chair of the Broederbond from 1974 to 1980, Administrator-General of South West Africa from ...

: Minister of Education and Minister of Constitutional Development;

Arts

Marius Weyers Marius Weyers (born 3 February 1945, in Johannesburg) is a South African actor. He was married to Yvette Weyers (1946-2023), an artist, who died on 11 July 2023. He lives in Rooi-Els in the Western Cape. He received international attention pl ...

(1962): South African actor; *

Ben Schoeman Barend Jacobus "Ben" Schoeman (19 January 1905 – 2 April 1986) was a South African politician of the National Party prominent during the apartheid era. He served as the Minister of Labour from 1948 to 1954, and the Minister of Transport fro ...

(2001): South African pianist *Christoph Kotzé (Appel) (2005): South African songwriter and recording artist
Zaan Sonnekus
(2016): Musician *Chris Steyn (2022): South African singer; Die Kontrak Winner

Business

Giam Swiegers Guillaume Johannes "Giam" Swiegers (born 27 July 1956) is a South African-born Australian business executive. Swiegers was the Global CEO of international engineering company Aurecon from 2015 to 2019, and was previously CEO of Deloitte Australi ...

: businessperson * Markus Jooste * Meyer Le Roux - Buffelsfontein

References

https://www.affiesrugby.co.za/

External links

Official school website
*Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool History Department (Museum)
Oud Affie B

Bond
(Afrikaans)
Choir information
(Afrikaans) {{DEFAULTSORT:Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool Afrikaner culture in Pretoria Afrikaans-language schools Schools in Pretoria Educational institutions established in 1920 History of Pretoria 1920 establishments in South Africa Boys' schools in South Africa